From December 2 to 14, international delegates are gathering in Katowice, Poland, to take part in the twenty-fourth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP24) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC). The COP meets annually to review the implementation of the UNFCCC and to assess the progress that has been made in the fight against rapid climate change.

As in previous years, the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung will represent civil society at the COP. In collaboration with TUED and key allies in the global climate movement, RLS is hosting a series of sessions and meetings focused on issues of Just Transition and energy democracy at the COP24. One of the central questions is how we can put decorbanization back on track while rejecting investor- or market-focused approaches to energy conservation. At this year’s COP, we bring together union leaders from the global North and South to assess energy and emission trends, discuss social ownership of energy production, present current data on energy poverty and conservation, and present further steps toward a just transition for workers as well as local communities. At a scheduled press conference, we also introduce our latest study by Tim Judson, Executive Director of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS), on “Nuclear Power and Climate Action: An Assessment for the Future.”

In addition, we will be joined by a delegation of Indigenous women leaders, who are at the forefront of the struggle against climate change in their communities in Kenya. RLS–NYC, in collaboration with our partner organization MADRE, has invited Edna Kaptoyo, Margaret Nguratiang, Susan Aleya, and Rosemary Mesopirr to participate in the COP24, where they speak to the needs of Indigenous women and ensure that their voices and claims are heard by the COP delegates.

At this roundtable, we discuss the IPCC’s Special Report and the need for a transformative transition. The discussion also aims at assessing the state of trade union interventions at the COP24, and it is meant as a space to share regional and national reports about TUED unions’ work for energy democracy. Please register here.

This event invites unions and allies to debate “energy democracy” and a just transition. In support of a new pro-public “reclaiming” of energy and climate policy, we bring together social movement actors, union representatives, allies in the environmental justice movement, and progressive policy groups to share their vision of what energy democracy might mean in practice—for people, communities, countries, and continents. Please register here.

Climate Change and the Energy Transition: Alternatives to Market Failures, and the Role of Public OwnershipTime: Sunday, December 9, 7:30-9:30pmVenue: Hotel Focus Katowice Chorzów, Armii Krajowej 15, 41-506 Chorzów, Poland

Join us for a discussion on the UK Labour Party’s climate and industrial policy with special guest Rebecca Long-Bailey, UK Labour Party Shadow Secretary for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy. The Party is currently committed to bringing transmission and distribution networks back into public ownership, and to achieving net zero emissions by 2050. For this and other reasons, the UK trade union and Labour Party debates have implications for unions and their allies in Europe and beyond. Please register here.

During this morning briefing, energy democracy allies discuss the steps necessary to organize around a clear pro-public energy and climate agenda for Europe and internationally. Please register here.

NEWS / EVENTS

Photo: Matthias Lambrecht/Flickr

NUCLEAR POWER AND CLIMATE ACTION

New publication by Tim Judson.
When nuclear power started to develop into an ever more important source of electric energy during the second half of the twentieth century, there grew widespread optimism regarding the potential of this seemingly unlimited, clean and, in the long run, economic resource. The unresolved problem of how to dispose of nuclear waste—which degrades...
READ MORE

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NEWS / EVENTS

Photo: Matthias Lambrecht/Flickr

NUCLEAR POWER AND CLIMATE ACTION

New publication by Tim Judson.
When nuclear power started to develop into an ever more important source of electric energy during the second half of the twentieth century, there grew widespread optimism regarding the potential of this seemingly unlimited, clean and, in the long run, economic resource. The unresolved problem of how to dispose of nuclear waste—which degrades very slowly, with a half-life of up to 15.7 million years—existed from......
READ MORE